Page 20 of Edge

“She is not going to be happy about this.”

“Just tell her you saw her registration and recognized the name and town she was from. Ask her if she’s related to the vice president of the Mad Dogs MC and see what she says. She might tell you everything herself. Then you won’t have to admit to having Byte snoop into her background.”

“And what if she doesn’t?”

Phoenix chuckled. “Then you’ll have to own up to it and tell her why you did it. If you’re offering to help her, chances are she’ll forgive you.”

“This could end up causing problems for the club.”

“I’m not worried about that. This isn’t the first time one of you little shits brought home a woman with a shit ton of problems, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

“She’s not my woman,” I protested.

“Oh, please,” Phoenix laughed. “You don’t take your eyes off her when she’s around. You’re fixing her car for free, and you were so worried about her you had Byte run a background check on her. You might not know it, and she might not know it, but she’s your woman.”

“He’s got you there, man,” Byte laughed.

“You can both piss off,” I grumbled.

“Let me know how it goes when you talk to her. Like I said, if she wants our help, we’ll do what we can.”

7

EVIE

Ialmost jumped out of my skin when someone knocked on my door. The only person who ever stopped by was Irene, and I knew she was still at work.

Quietly getting to my feet, I tiptoed across the room and looked through the peephole to see Edge standing on the front steps. Assuming he was there about my car, I opened the door and gestured for him to come in.

“That was fast,” I said. “What was wrong with it?”

“Oh, I’m not here about your car,” he said.

“You’re not?” I asked and turned to look at him. He seemed different. Nervous maybe.

“No. I came to talk to you about something else. Can we sit?”

“Sure,” I said and took a seat at the end of my couch, leaving the other end available for him. Suddenly, I was nervous.

He sat and clasped his hands together. “I’m not really sure how to begin.”

“Did something happen to Irene?”

“No! She’s fine,” he insisted. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“When I was getting started on your car, I opened the glove box to get your manual and I saw your registration, particularly your last name and the town you’re from. Are you related to the vice president of the Mad Dogs MC?”

Everything inside me froze. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do anything but stare at him with unmasked terror on my face.

“Evie?” he asked, sounding worried. “Are you okay?”

My fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, and it was at one hundred percent flight. “I have to go,” I blurted and got to my feet.

He rose from his seat and blocked my path with his enormous body, though he didn’t reach out to touch me or physically stop me. “Please, wait,” he said urgently. “I’m only asking because I want to help you if you need it. I know they’re bad news.”

“You have no idea,” I said quietly.